A Litany of Unholy Events

I watched a  slice of Lance Armstrong's interview with Oprah Winfrey at the weekend. Ms. Winfrey's purpose was clear. 
I wasn't sure about the lying cheat. I heard  the only show of emotion was in the second interview when he mentioned his son defending his father .
But the newscast went on to disclose he is being paid for a book about his life and a movie to be made and that explained it.   
It reminded me of  an award winning  movie "Network" with William Holden and Faye Dunaway. A  crazed individual's ravings were used to build ratings for the T.V. show. 
"Go to your window. Open the window and shout. We're mad as hell and we're not going to take it any more."
Deals were made  between T.Vexecutives and  criminals  for their activities to be caught on  tape for the same purpose. 
Then I thought  of another movie with Dustin Hoffman. It was "The Tale That Wagged The Dog" about White House  maneuvering to wage a war, at a cost of thousands of lives. to promote Presidential  political fortunes .
Last week, I read how the TDSB  former Director of Education will pay a firm  hundreds of thousands of dollars to redeem his reputation and how it will  be done. 
He apologized for claiming  someone else's writing as his own. He didn't resign until it was disclosed he'd been doing it for years.
Also last week, during the Emmy awards, the crowd gave a standing ovation to President Clinton who was  the surprise guest of the evening. 
During his Presidency, he allowed himself to be photographed leaving church, prayer book in  hand. 
On another occasion, he gazed steadfastly into a camera,
pointed a finger and  told the America people " I did not have sex with that woman"
That "woman" was a foolish female ,young enough to be his daughter , who worked for him.
The remarkable story of President  Richard Millhouse Nixon quickly came to mind.   He also gazed steadfastly into a camera  told the American people, "Your President is not a crook"  
But he was.  He broke laws, destroyed people's lives and left tapes to prove it. Some  people went to jail. 
But he ended his life with a different epitaph.
No doubt, when Lance Armstrong decided to "come clean' and admit to lying and cheating, he knew he would be able to buy back heroic status.. 
He  certainly made enough money and stood to make more with a book and a movie on the burner and who knows what Oprah paid him to  participate in an interview to be seen by  thirty-three million viewers around the world.
After I posted  this morning, I received  the usual handful of jeers and sneers. 
For a  second I  pondered.  Maybe integrity and good faith are nothng more than an out of date concept ' a commoodity to be bought and sold. . 
Maybe lying and cheating are O.K. if you don't get caught.
Even if you get caught,not to worry,  you can change the record as long as you have enough money to  pay the right experts to bury the truth.